Documentation by Therapeutic Modality

Different therapeutic modalities use different frameworks, interventions, and language — and your documentation should reflect the approach you're actually using. A CBT session note should reference cognitive distortions and behavioral experiments, not the same vague "supportive therapy" language used for every session regardless of modality. Modality-specific documentation demonstrates clinical competence and helps insurance reviewers understand the treatment rationale.

What You'll Find Here

This section provides documentation templates and examples for each major therapeutic modality:

• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) — documenting thought records, behavioral experiments, cognitive restructuring, and homework assignments
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) — diary cards, behavioral chain analysis, target hierarchy, skills training documentation
• EMDR — 8-phase protocol documentation, SUD/VOC ratings, bilateral stimulation notes, and reprocessing session records
• Psychodynamic therapy — documenting transference, defense mechanisms, insight, and unconscious process without over-disclosing session content
• Play therapy — child-centered session documentation, behavioral observations, and parent consultation notes
• ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy) — values work, defusion exercises, committed action documentation
• Exposure therapy (ERP) — exposure hierarchy documentation, SUDS ratings, habituation tracking
• Solution-Focused Brief Therapy — miracle question documentation, scaling questions, exception-finding
• Motivational Interviewing — stages of change documentation, change talk, and readiness assessment
• Gottman Method — Four Horsemen assessment, Sound Relationship House documentation, couples intervention notes

Each page includes modality-specific clinical terminology, session note examples, and links to the modality's training organization for further reference.

Why Modality-Specific Notes Matter

Generic progress notes like "Provided supportive therapy; client processed feelings about relationship" tell the reader nothing about what you actually did. When your notes reference specific modality techniques — "Completed behavioral chain analysis of self-harm urge from Tuesday; identified vulnerability factors and generated alternative coping responses" — you demonstrate clinical expertise, justify your chosen approach, and create notes that are genuinely useful for treatment continuity.